1.  The first question you will ask if considering a Chapter 7 or 13 is -- if I go Chapter 13, how much will my plan payment be?  This question is usually answered this way -- give me your budget, and everything left over after necessary living expenses will be your plan payment.  That is, they tell you that you will give the Trustee every spare dime you will have for up to 5 years.  Wrong answer!  The correct answer is based on how much money it will require to pay for the things you want to fund in your Chapter 13 Plan.  What are the types of things you are likely to want to fund? 
          a.  The current value of vehicles with "negative equity," that is, you owe more on them than they're worth.
          b.  Your past-due house payments (arrearage), but not the future house payments.
          c.  Any other "secured debt" (meaning there's something the creditor can repossess if you don't pay the bill).
          d.  Taxes that are under 3 years old but past due, and you need a longer payout than they are willing to give you, or other "priority debts" like guaranteed school loans (although the terms on school loans are usually longer than 5 years, so a Chapter 13 might not refinance these with easier terms).

     2.  You most likely will not want to pay much if any unsecured debt through a Chapter 13, meaning debt where nothing can be repossessed if you don't pay.  The law requires you to make your best effort to budget all the debt you can in a Chapter 13.  But most budgets cannot afford this.  So we leave out unsecured debt in estimating what your minimum plan payment will be in a Chapter 13. 

     3.  If you like, click on Minimum Monthly Ch 13 Plan Payment & Other Options.htm and see if you can compute your minimum Plan payment.  Don't get frustrated if it's too complicated.  Give us a call for a free consultation - 325 677-4343.  Save & email or fax your results to us!

     4.  The next question you will ask if considering a Chapter 7 or 13 is -- what does my budget look like?  How bad is it and what are my best options?  You guessed it -- we have a spreadsheet for you on that too.  Fill in your income and expenses in the shaded boxes.  The final figure on the bottom right will be the same figure you got as your "minimum plan payment" using the prior spreadsheet.  Try it!  Amended Budget.htm.